A TikTok influencer tragically passed away after allegedly receiving an overdose of pain medication due to nurse negligence, as per a lawsuit recently initiated by her husband.
Rachel Tussey, a mother of three with a significant TikTok following of over 80,000, was eagerly anticipating a ‘mommy makeover’ before undergoing the procedure at Cincinnati’s JourneyLite Surgery Center on February 25.
Throughout her journey, she shared her experiences with her followers, posting a video from her hospital bed just before being taken into surgery, which lasted nine hours.
In the video, she expressed, “I feel a wide range of emotions, but mostly it’s pure excitement and gratitude. My husband is here, I have a fantastic support team, and I’m truly looking forward to this new chapter.”
She added, “Please keep me in your prayers. I know everything will be great, and I’ve waited a long time for this. I’m in good hands, and I trust that God has my back.”
Contrary to her optimistic outlook, the lawsuit filed by her husband, Jeremy Tussey, claims that Rachel’s care fell short of the standard she expected.
The lawsuit states that one of the nurses in JourneyLite’s recovery room caused Rachel to overdose on opioids by administering 150 micrograms of fentanyl and half a milligram of Dilaudid within 30 minutes of her surgery.
That dosage was well above what the mother received during her nine-hour surgery, over the course of which she was administered 100 micrograms of fentanyl and another half milligram of Dilaudid, according to the lawsuit.
Rachel Tussey, a mother-of-three and TikToker with more than 80,000 followers, died after receiving a tummy tuck surgery. She is pictured with her husband, Jeremy Tussey
Just before the surgery, Rachel posted a video on TikTok saying she was excited. She is pictured in that video
Rachel died because she was administered too much pain medication and overdosed, according to a lawsuit filed by Jeremy. She is pictured in a hospital bed after she was declared brain dead in a video posted by her husband
Rachel’s overdose caused her to lose oxygen flow to her brain for more than six minutes, and nurses failed to act urgently and respond properly during that crucial timeframe, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit further stated that after the nurses finally called 911 about nine minutes after she became unresponsive, Rachel was transported to Bethesda North Hospital, where staff determined she was brain dead.
She remained on a ventilator until March 7, when she was transferred to hospice care. She died in hospice on March 17.
Bethesda North Hospital determined that Rachel’s cause of death was an anoxic brain injury and acute respiratory failure caused by an overdose.
The hospital’s staff also ruled out any other potential cause of death, such as complications from the surgery, according to the lawsuit.
About a month before Jeremy filed his lawsuit, Rachel’s surgeon, Dr Shahryar Tork, also filed a lawsuit accusing JourneyLite and its staff of negligence and causing his patient’s death.
‘Rachel’s death was completely unnecessary and caused by a JourneyLite nurse recklessly overdosing Rachel on narcotics, and by a JourneyLite anesthesiologist abandoning their patient,’ the surgeon told WCPO.
‘This was not a tummy tuck complication; she would be home, I would see her smiling in my office, if other people had done their job right,’ Tork added.
Rachel died in hospice care on March 17. Staff at the hospital ruled out any cause of death other than a lack of oxygen to her brain caused by an overdose
Rachel’s husband said she was ‘sensitive to drugs’ in a video posted after she was declared brain dead. The couple is pictured together
‘[Rachel’s] low pain medication dosage needs reflected Mrs. Tussey’s low opioid tolerance level,’ the surgeon’s lawsuit stated.
In a video posted from Bethesda North Hospital while Rachel was still hooked up to a ventilator, her husband similarly said, ‘She was administered too much medicine.
‘Point five Dilaudid, on top of 150 fentanyl, is way too much for somebody that is so minute, that is so sensitive to drugs,’ he said.
JourneyLite, Associated Anesthesiologists of Springfield, facility administrators and nurses listed as Jane Does were all named as defendants in Jeremy’s lawsuit.
The civil complaint accused JourneyLite of being responsible for Rachel’s death through ‘systemic failures’ and ‘regulatory violations.’
Tork, the surgeon, was not named as a defendant in Jeremy’s lawsuit.
The complaint also accused the surgery center of attempting to alter its records after Rachel died by changing medication doses and administration times, and it cited an email about ‘purging files’ sent by a JourneyLite employee on the day Rachel died.
Facility administrators even asked Tork to alter his operative notes twice, which he refused to do on both occasions, according to the lawsuit.
Rachel’s surgeon also filed a lawsuit accusing the surgery center and its staff of negligence and said she was ‘taken from her family.’ The mother is pictured with her family
In all, the lawsuit accused the defendants of medical negligence, negligent hiring and retention, spoliation of evidence, negligent infliction of emotional distress and loss of consortium.
Jeremy is seeking compensation exceeding $25,000 per claim, as well as punitive damages and attorney fees. The lawsuit demanded a trial by jury.
JourneyLite denied all of the accusations laid out in the lawsuit in a statement to the Daily Mail.
In a GoFundMe set up to help Jeremy pay for medical expenses, Rachel was described as ‘an example of what community and compassion should look like.’
‘She dedicated countless hours helping others, including organizing donation efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, collecting supplies and personally delivering essential items to those in need,’ it says on the fundraising page.
‘When someone needed help, Rachel was always the first person to step forward.’
